Harmful Alcohol Use, Hazardous Drinking
Conditions
Keywords
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Telephone-based intervention, Alcohol use, Psychological flexibility, Randomized controlled trial
Brief summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if telephone-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) works to help young adults with hazardous or harmful alcohol use quit drinking. It will also learn about the psychological effects of ACT on participants. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Does telephone-based ACT increase the number of participants who quit drinking, as confirmed by a urine test? 2. Does telephone-based ACT help participants reduce their alcohol consumption and improve their psychological flexibility? Researchers will compare telephone-based ACT to a telephone-based social support programme to see if ACT works to help young adults quit drinking. Participants will: 1. Receive telephone-based ACT or social support once a week for 6 weeks Complete questionnaires about their alcohol use and psychological flexibility. 2. Keep a record of their daily alcohol consumption throughout the study using a standardised diary method. 3. Provide a urine sample at the 6-month follow-up if they report having quit drinking
Interventions
BEHAVIORALTelephone-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Participants in the intervention group will receive six weekly telephone sessions of ACT (45-60 min each) from interventionist.
BEHAVIORALWaitlist control with Telephone-Based Social Support
Participants in the control group will receive six weekly telephone sessions of social support (45 min each) from interventionist.
Sponsors
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 35 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* (1) aged 18-35 years * (2) able to read Chinese and speak Cantonese * (3) have AUDIT scores ≥ 8
Exclusion criteria
* (1) currently receiving other behavioural therapies for drinking * (2) has serious mental illnesses, defined as a Kessler Psychological Distress Scale score ≥ 13
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Biochemically-Validated Abstinence | T4 (6 months after the end of the intervention) | Participants who self-report quitting drinking in the past 30 days are tested for ethyl glucuronide (a by-product of alcohol metabolism) via urine strips to confirm abstinence biochemically. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Psychological Flexibility Index | T0 (baseline), T1 (immediately after completion of the 6-week intervention), T2 (1 month after completing the intervention), T3 (3 months after completing the intervention), T4 (6 months after completing the intervention) | Personalised Psychological Flexibility Index(PPFI) will be used to measure psychological flexibility by 19 items rating on a 7-point scale. Higher scores represent greater psychological flexibility. It has been validated among Chinese college students |
| Self-Reported 30-Day Abstinence | T0 (baseline), T1 (immediately after completion of the 6-week intervention), T2 (1 month after completing the intervention), T3 (3 months after completing the intervention), T4 (6 months after completing the intervention) | Reduction in alcohol consumption and self-reported 30-day abstinence will be recorded using TLFB. Participants will be asked to report the number of drinks they have consumed within the past 30 days. |
| Reduction in Alcohol Consumption | T1 (immediately after completion of the 6-week intervention), T2 (1 month after the intervention), T3 (3 months after the intervention), T4 (6 months after the intervention) | Defined as 50% or more reduction in average alcohol consumption per day compared to baseline, measured using the Timeline Follow-Back (TLFB) questionnaire. |
Contacts
CONTACTKa Wai Katherine LAM, Doctor of Philosophy
Outcome results
None listed